Atta Kim
Encyclopedia
Atta Kim is a South Korea
n photographer who has been active since the mid-1980s. He has exhibited his work internationally and was the first photographer chosen to represent South Korea in the São Paulo Biennial
.
His early works were black and white portraits of subjects including psychiatric patients, individuals designated as "cultural assets" by the Korean government, and his own family. His later and most notable series of works have been exhibited as full color, large scale prints: The Museum Project, which depicts people "preserved" within Plexiglas cases placed in various settings, and ON-AIR, which uses long exposures and image compositing to make individual people and objects dissolve. Kim's work has been heavily influenced by Zen Buddhist concepts of interconnectedness and transience, and he commonly uses Buddhist iconography.
, one of the southern-most islands in South Korea, and completed elementary school there before continuing his education in Busan
. He studied mechanical engineering
at Changwon University and earned a Bachelor of Science
degree. His application had been submitted on his behalf by a friend, who had also chosen his major for him because it offered a good prospect for a job after graduation.
Kim’s decision to become an artist caused conflict with his father, a schoolteacher who wanted Kim to become a college professor. Kim began experimenting with photography in junior high school, though he never studied it academically. His work during college was mostly abstract; dissatisfied with the results, he decided to explore the outside world and to photograph people from various backgrounds and stages of life. His first exhibited series was "Psychopath" in 1987, which were portraits of mentally ill patients.
His later participation in a group show gained him enough recognition that he was named Korea’s representative to the twenty-fifth São Paulo Biennial
in 2002, becoming the first photographer to represent Korea in that venue. Kim entered The Museum Project, which became his first work to be widely exhibited outside of Korea.
ON-AIR, his first solo exhibition in the United States, was shown in 2006 at the International Center of Photography
in New York City
to positive critical reviews. In contrast to his attempt at capturing permanence in The Museum Project, Kim now focused on transience in ON-AIR, with large-scale images created through very long or multiple exposures.
As of 2009, Kim lives and works in New York and Seoul.
(1889–1976), and the teachings of the Russian-Armenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff
(1872–1949) on transcendence. Kim is careful to explain that he is not a practicing Buddhist, despite the prevalence of Buddhist iconography and concepts in his work.
Kim’s work is in the permanent collections of the following institutions:
, that were shot during long, interactive sessions. His interest in the patients was inspired by his reading of Sigmund Freud
, and he intended to use his photography to reveal their consciousness; however, Kim ultimately concluded that the images "revealed nothing more...than the insanity of the patients." Kim claims to have burned all 1,200 copies of the published collection, after the wife of a patron had to be hospitalized for a relapse of depression
after seeing the book.
Kim began his next series, Father (1986–90), after he reunited with his father following the success of Psychopaths. He didn’t consider the series, which depicted "the continuity of time" from generation to generation within his family, to be a significant artistic achievement, but thought it helped him "return...to [his] roots" and become "mentally independent."
Human Cultural Assets (1989–90) is a series of black and white portraits of people designated "national cultural assets" by the Korean government. He met 150 individuals that had been so designated, which included elderly dancers, musicians, and monks, and spent between one and seven days with each trying to learn their personal philosophies. The series was not exhibited until 2002.
Kim's In-der-Welt-sein (1990–91) consists of black and white images of natural objects near a Buddhist temple, which are revealed only by a dim light. Kim made the images with exposure times of one to two hours, taken between 3:00 am and 5:00 am, which are the hours known as the time of the Buddha’s enlightenment. The name of the series (German
for "Being in the world") is a concept of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger
intended to eliminate the distinction between subject and object. Kim recounts that when his father would walk him home from school as a child, he would point out small details such as flowers, insects, or stones. These observances taught him that all things were of equal significance to his own existence.
Kim noted that the series "created quite a shock" because the critics were unable to accept it. Though "the bodies were meant to signify dominant new life," the images were also perceived as "look[ing] like the aftermath of a catastrophe." Others wrote that his use of the body as an object reflected "the sense of the sacred being present in all things, whether animate or inanimate, and of all things comprising the sacred."
The Museum Project consists of nine subseries:
ON-AIR Project was largely praised for its philosophical richness as well as its striking, technically proficient visuals. The long exposure shots were characterized as a "radically different" imagining of duration. However, less effective were the composites in which the superimposition is conspicuous.
Like The Museum Project, ON-AIR Project consists of several subseries:
1- New York: Street and pedestrian traffic dissolves in a mist over the long exposures, in photos taken in iconic, and typically crowded locations in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan
: Times Square
, Grand Central Station, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Park Avenue
, and Fifth Avenue
.
2- China: The city of Beijing
and Shanghai
: Tiananmen Square
, Chang'an Avenue, Nanjing Road
3- India: The city of Mumbai
and Delhi
: Karol Bagh
, Chandni Chowk
, Victoria Station
4- Berlin
: Berlin Wall
, Bahnhof Wittenberg Platz, Brandenburg Gate
5- Prague
: Narodni, Old Town Square, Marlostranske Namesti, Wenceslas Square
6- Paris
: Champs-Élysées
, Place de la Concorde
, Pont Alexandre III
, Pont Neuf
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n photographer who has been active since the mid-1980s. He has exhibited his work internationally and was the first photographer chosen to represent South Korea in the São Paulo Biennial
São Paulo Art Biennial
The São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial , which serves as its role model....
.
His early works were black and white portraits of subjects including psychiatric patients, individuals designated as "cultural assets" by the Korean government, and his own family. His later and most notable series of works have been exhibited as full color, large scale prints: The Museum Project, which depicts people "preserved" within Plexiglas cases placed in various settings, and ON-AIR, which uses long exposures and image compositing to make individual people and objects dissolve. Kim's work has been heavily influenced by Zen Buddhist concepts of interconnectedness and transience, and he commonly uses Buddhist iconography.
Biography
Kim was born on Geoje IslandGeoje Island
Geojedo or Geoje Island is the principal island of Geoje City, on the southern coast of Gyeongsangnam-do province, South Korea. It is joined to land by two bridges from nearby Tongyeong. Sinhyeon is the largest town on the island...
, one of the southern-most islands in South Korea, and completed elementary school there before continuing his education in Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
. He studied mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
at Changwon University and earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree. His application had been submitted on his behalf by a friend, who had also chosen his major for him because it offered a good prospect for a job after graduation.
Kim’s decision to become an artist caused conflict with his father, a schoolteacher who wanted Kim to become a college professor. Kim began experimenting with photography in junior high school, though he never studied it academically. His work during college was mostly abstract; dissatisfied with the results, he decided to explore the outside world and to photograph people from various backgrounds and stages of life. His first exhibited series was "Psychopath" in 1987, which were portraits of mentally ill patients.
His later participation in a group show gained him enough recognition that he was named Korea’s representative to the twenty-fifth São Paulo Biennial
São Paulo Art Biennial
The São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial , which serves as its role model....
in 2002, becoming the first photographer to represent Korea in that venue. Kim entered The Museum Project, which became his first work to be widely exhibited outside of Korea.
ON-AIR, his first solo exhibition in the United States, was shown in 2006 at the International Center of Photography
International Center of Photography
The International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to positive critical reviews. In contrast to his attempt at capturing permanence in The Museum Project, Kim now focused on transience in ON-AIR, with large-scale images created through very long or multiple exposures.
As of 2009, Kim lives and works in New York and Seoul.
Work
Kim has described his photographs as merely "byproducts" of his attempt at a personal philosophy. He cites inspiration from the concept of interconnectedness in Zen Buddhism, the focus on temporal existence in the writings of German philosopher Martin HeideggerMartin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
(1889–1976), and the teachings of the Russian-Armenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff
G. I. Gurdjieff
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff according to Gurdjieff's principles and instructions, or the "Fourth Way."At one point he described his teaching as "esoteric Christianity."...
(1872–1949) on transcendence. Kim is careful to explain that he is not a practicing Buddhist, despite the prevalence of Buddhist iconography and concepts in his work.
Kim’s work is in the permanent collections of the following institutions:
- The Museet for Fotokunst, OdenseOdenseThe city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... - EARLLU Gallery, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
- National Museum of Contemporary Art, GwacheonGwacheonGwacheon is a city in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... - Artsonje Museum, Gyeongju
- Seoul Art Center, Seoul
- Leeum, Samsung Museum of Modern Art, Seoul
- Gyeongnam Art Museum, ChangwonChangwonChangwon is a city in and the capital of Gyeongsangnam-do in South Korea. Changwon city is 8th most populous city in South Korea, with a 2010 established population of 1,089,039. It encompasses a land area of on southeastern of South Korea. The population of Southeastern part of Korea, that...
, South Korea - Daelim Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul
- Microsoft Art Collection http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/artcollection/default.mspx, United States
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, United States - Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, United States - Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, Los Angeles County, CaliforniaLos Angeles County, CaliforniaLos Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, United States - JGS Foundation, New York, New York, United States
Early work
Kim’s Psychopath series (1985–86) consisted of black and white portraits taken of patients in a Korean psychiatric hospitalPsychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, that were shot during long, interactive sessions. His interest in the patients was inspired by his reading of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, and he intended to use his photography to reveal their consciousness; however, Kim ultimately concluded that the images "revealed nothing more...than the insanity of the patients." Kim claims to have burned all 1,200 copies of the published collection, after the wife of a patron had to be hospitalized for a relapse of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
after seeing the book.
Kim began his next series, Father (1986–90), after he reunited with his father following the success of Psychopaths. He didn’t consider the series, which depicted "the continuity of time" from generation to generation within his family, to be a significant artistic achievement, but thought it helped him "return...to [his] roots" and become "mentally independent."
Human Cultural Assets (1989–90) is a series of black and white portraits of people designated "national cultural assets" by the Korean government. He met 150 individuals that had been so designated, which included elderly dancers, musicians, and monks, and spent between one and seven days with each trying to learn their personal philosophies. The series was not exhibited until 2002.
Kim's In-der-Welt-sein (1990–91) consists of black and white images of natural objects near a Buddhist temple, which are revealed only by a dim light. Kim made the images with exposure times of one to two hours, taken between 3:00 am and 5:00 am, which are the hours known as the time of the Buddha’s enlightenment. The name of the series (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "Being in the world") is a concept of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
intended to eliminate the distinction between subject and object. Kim recounts that when his father would walk him home from school as a child, he would point out small details such as flowers, insects, or stones. These observances taught him that all things were of equal significance to his own existence.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction (1991–95) consisted of black and white photographs of groups of nude men and women positioned lifelessly in desolate landscapes. These were described as "cinematic performance-based pictures." The subjects’ faces are rarely visible, instead obscured by hair or by turning away from the camera so that they do not read as individuals. In a few images, however, the nudes are standing. Kim did not yet work with assistants, and so personally scouted the locations, located the models, and moved the equipment.Kim noted that the series "created quite a shock" because the critics were unable to accept it. Though "the bodies were meant to signify dominant new life," the images were also perceived as "look[ing] like the aftermath of a catastrophe." Others wrote that his use of the body as an object reflected "the sense of the sacred being present in all things, whether animate or inanimate, and of all things comprising the sacred."
The Museum Project
Kim continued his placement of nude figures in unusual contexts in The Museum Project (1995–2002), his first color series. Each subseries within The Museum Project depicted people, either singly or in groups, formally posed on display within clear Plexiglas cases as if they were museum artifacts. Kim's "core concept" in The Museum Project "is that every single being in the universe has its own worth;" the series then functions as Kim's "private museum" to preserve these people as "contemporary treasures." The series also explores "basic functions of the museum such as preserving, collecting, and categorizing." The New York Times described the series as transforming human bodies into "untouchably inorganic" objects like "antique sculptures in a gallery or expensive machines in a showroom;" its critic found the series "effective: quiet, minimalist, mildly surreal."The Museum Project consists of nine subseries:
- "Field" (1995–1996). Nude men and women are crouched or standing in the display cases (typically one per case), which are placed out in the world in various natural and manmade locations, such as within a forest, in the middle of a city street with oncoming traffice, and in a department store.
- "Holocaust" (1997). Similar to "Field", the bodies are displayed out in the world, but are aggressively pressed between acrylic sheets hanging from meathooks in stark, industrial backgrounds, or hung by one leg in a row like sides of beef.
- "People" (1999). People of different ages and professions are on display; unlike in "Field" or "Holocaust", the cases are shot against featureless, monochromatic backgrounds and are lined with white cloth upon which the people stand or lay. Some of the subjects in "People" are individuals, others are pairs or groups. All suggest aspects of the subject’s identity through dress or their relationship to others in groupings.
- "Prostitutes" (1999). Women are portrayed in traditional Korean dress in cases are displayed against red backgrounds. Some appear within the Plexiglas cases with other woman from different backgrounds, to obscure social status so "no moralistic judgment can be applied."
- "War Veteran" (1999). Wounded Korean soldiers are displayed against red backgrounds. All are nude, and display their wounds through exposed scars or amputated limbs, or by accessories required by their infirmity such as crutches, canes, prosthetics, or a wheelchair.
- "Sex" (1999). Nude couples in various positions of coupling, against a monochromatic background like the previous series. Some are engaged in what appears to be intercourse; others merely lay together or hold one another intimately.
- "Suicide" (2000). Each image dramatizes suicide by a different method, such as shooting or hari kiri.
- "Nirvana" (2001). The largest subseries depicts Buddhist priests and nuns nude, initially in a temple setting. Their chief abbot agreed to let them pose in the temple because Kim stated that his purpose was "to see the purity." The series was expanded to other settings, such as a constructed temple with paraffin Buddha figures, and other subjects.
- "Salvation" (2002). Nude men or women are chained to Plexiglas crosses and attached to IV feeds. The subseries is intended to reference the Christian concept that redemption is achieved through "transmission" of the sacred, as in Communion, in which the flesh and blood of Christ is symbolically ingested through bread and wine.
ON-AIR Project
Kim began ON-AIR Project (2002–present) when he pondered that the subjects in his "private museum" in The Museum Project would not exist forever. The central concept of ON-AIR Project is accordingly the impermanence of all beings in the universe. The “ON-AIR Project” consists of three different procedures: first, long exposure technique is procedure which can make an object disappear in proportion to the speed; second procedure is creating new images by superimpose several images. Lastly, a procedure can be executed with journey to find meaning of existence which can be represented by ice melting process. Using extended exposure time from 8 hours to 25 hours per cut, Kim makes moving people and objects disappear, which achieves both a visual effect as well as an expression of "the precious value of individuals and of history." Another grouping was formed from combining images so that an accretion of individuals becomes a composite.ON-AIR Project was largely praised for its philosophical richness as well as its striking, technically proficient visuals. The long exposure shots were characterized as a "radically different" imagining of duration. However, less effective were the composites in which the superimposition is conspicuous.
Like The Museum Project, ON-AIR Project consists of several subseries:
- "DMZ" Eight hour exposures taken at the Korean DMZ between North and South Korea, over which time the 500,000 soldiers facing off across the border vanish to leave the landscape peaceful. It took several years for Kim to secure permission from the South Korean government to take the photographs, and the North Korean army responded with suspicion to the long exposures. The series took three years to complete. It was called the “most powerful” of the ON-AIR photographs, as well as the quietest.
- "Sex Series" In one image, a couple having sex was photographed for a one hour exposure.
- "Self-Portrait" Each image is a computer generated composite of 100 portraits. These were accompanied at the ICP show by small arrays of the source photos.
- "Mandala"
- "Monologue of Ice" is a significant example of vanishing. “Mao”, sculpted in ice, symbolized socialism melting in the face of time. Through the works “Pyramid” and “Qin Terracotta Army,” Kim tried to express the transience of power, the absurdity of greed, and the vanity of Qin, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, in ice form. There is no exception for Buddha who was one of the greatest teachers who taught eternal truth. All beings vary in time. It may look that they are fading away, but in reality, doesn’t always they are.
- "Eight Hours"
1- New York: Street and pedestrian traffic dissolves in a mist over the long exposures, in photos taken in iconic, and typically crowded locations in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
: Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, Grand Central Station, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, Park Avenue
Park Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
, and Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among...
.
2- China: The city of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
: Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world...
, Chang'an Avenue, Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road is the name of more than one road:* Nanjing Road * Nanjing Road * Nanjing Road...
3- India: The city of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
: Karol Bagh
Karol Bagh
Karol Bagh, also spelled as Qarol Bagh , is a mixed residential-cum-commercial neighbourhood in Delhi, India, known for its shopping streets, like the Ghaffar Market and Ajmal Khan Road...
, Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk , originally meaning moonlit square or market, is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, now in central north Delhi, India...
, Victoria Station
4- Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
: Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, Bahnhof Wittenberg Platz, Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
5- Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
: Narodni, Old Town Square, Marlostranske Namesti, Wenceslas Square
Wenceslas Square
Wenceslas Square is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings...
6- Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
: Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
, Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.- History :...
, Pont Alexandre III
Pont Alexandre III
The Pont Alexandre III is an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris...
, Pont Neuf
Pont Neuf
The Pont Neuf is, despite its name, the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Its name, which was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses, has remained....
- "Indala" This series which entails creating one image with superimposed images of up to ten thousand images photographed from a city is the flower of the “ON-AIR Project”. Although ten thousand images are invisible, individual’s identities never disappear. It only transforms its form. This is the reality of the world.
Solo shows
- 1985 - Man, Hanmadang Gallery, BusanBusanBusan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... - 1986 - Monologue, Busan Gallery, Busan
- 1987 - Psychopath, Yechong Gallery, SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea - 1988 - Song of Empty Hand, Baeksaek Gallery, Busan
- 1988 - Child of Nucleus, Pinehill Gallery, Seoul
- 1990 - Father, Hanmadang Gallery, Seoul
- 1993 - The Korean People, Nikon Salon Gallery, TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... - 1994 - Deconstruction, Space Saemter Gallery, Seoul
- 1995 - The Museum Project, NauvoGallery, Busan (installationInstallation artInstallation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
, performancePerformance artIn art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
) - 1995 - Gaia in 2005 Years, UlsanUlsanUlsan , officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh largest metropolis with a population of over 1.1 million. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring Busan to the south and facing Gyeongju to the north and the Sea of Japan to the east.Ulsan is the...
, South Korea (performance) - 1996 - The Museum Project, Samsung Photo Gallery, Seoul
- 2001 - Museum Project, Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
- 2005 - ATTAKIM, Galerie Gana – Beaubourg, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - 2006 - Atta Kim: ON-AIR, International Center of PhotographyInternational Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, New York, New York, United States - 2006 - The Museum Project, Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, New York
- 2008 - Atta Kim: ON-AIR, Rodin Gallery, Seoul
- 2009 - AttaKim: ON-AIR, 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia- Collateral Events, Venice
Group shows
- 1988 - Haeundae Beach Art Fair, BusanBusanBusan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
(installation) - 1991 - 1992 - Horizon of Korean Photography, Total Gallery, SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea (1991); Seoul Metropolitan Museum, Seoul (1992) - 1992 - Ah! Korea, Jahamoon Gallery, Seoul
- 1993 - Art and Photography, Seoul Art Center, Seoul
- 1993 - Image and Photography, Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
- 1994 - Korean Contemporary Photography, Seoul Art Center, Seoul
- 1994 - View of Next Generation of Korean Contemporary Art in 1994, Seoul Art Center, Seoul
- 1995 - Korea Avant-Garde Art since 1967-1995: Rebellion of Space, Seoul Metropolitan Museum, Seoul
- 1995 - The New Generational Tendency in Korean Contemporary Art (Body & Recognition), Art Center of the Korean & Culture Foundation, Seoul
- 1995 - Expressional Medium of Korean, Contemporary Art Seoul Metropolitan Museum, Seoul
- 1995 - Photographers in our Time, Gallery Art Beam, Seoul
- 1996 - Photography is Photography, Samsung Photo Gallery, Seoul
- 1997 - Legends from Daily Life, Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
- 1998 - Alienation & Assimilation, Museum of Contemporary PhotographyMuseum of Contemporary PhotographyThe Museum of Contemporary Photography was founded in 1984 by Columbia College Chicago. It is well known for an active program and curating which discovers many emerging and mid-career artists...
, Chicago, Illinois, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - 1998 - A History of Korean Photography, Seoul Art Center, Seoul
- 1999 - A Window, Inside and Outside, Kwangju City Art Museum, GwangjuGwangjuGwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister...
, South Korea - 1999 - The Segment of Time, Seonam Art Center, Seoul
- 2000 - after time, Howart Gallery, Seoul
- 2000 - Odense Foto Triennale Festival of Light, OdenseOdenseThe city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... - 2000 - Houston FotoFest, Williams Tower Gallery, Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, United States - 2001 - 2001 Photo Festival, Gana Art Center, Seoul
- 2001 - Image from the Land of Morning Calm, 6th International FotoFestival, HertenHertenHerten is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated in the industrial Ruhr Area, approx...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - 2001 - Digital Dreams, Analogue Desires, Art Center of Korean Art & Culture, Seoul
- 2001 - Artspectrum-2001, Ho-Am Art Gallery, Seoul
- 2001 - Awakening, Australian Center for Photography, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... - 2001 - 2002 - Translated Acts: Performance and Body Art from East Asia 1991-2001, traveling exhibition: Carrilo Gill Museum, Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(2002); Queens Museum of ArtQueens Museum of ArtThe Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
, New York, New York, United States (2001); Haus der Kulturen der WeltHaus der Kulturen der WeltThe Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin is Germany's national centre for contemporary non-European art. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on non-European Visual Art and culture...
, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany (2001) - 2002 - Asia Comments, Danish Center for Culture & Development, CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark - 2002 - Red Light, Australian Center for Photography, Sydney
- 2002 - Site+Sight, Singapore Arts Festival, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
- 2002 - 2002 Asia Photo Bienale, Seoul
- 2002 - Exhibition for the Winners of Hanam International Photo Awards, HanamHanamHanam is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Formerly a part of Gwangju County, it was designated a city in 1989. The ancient Baekje capital of Hanam Wiryeseong may have been located there....
, South Korea - 2003 - 25th São Paulo BiennialSão Paulo Art BiennialThe São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial , which serves as its role model....
, Sao PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... - 2003 - BODYSCAPY, Rodin Gallery, Seoul
- 2003 - Youngeun2003 Residency – The Journey of Spaces, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Youngeun, South Korea
- 2003 - Asia, Asia Society Gallery, New York, New York
- 2003 - FotoFest - Russia, Samara Regional Museum of Fine Arts, SamaraSamara, RussiaSamara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... - 2003 - Point of Time, Gallery Gana Beaubourg, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - 2004 - Opening exhibition, Gyeongnam Art Museum, ChangwonChangwonChangwon is a city in and the capital of Gyeongsangnam-do in South Korea. Changwon city is 8th most populous city in South Korea, with a 2010 established population of 1,089,039. It encompasses a land area of on southeastern of South Korea. The population of Southeastern part of Korea, that...
, South Korea - 2004 - The 4th Photo Festival, Ganagallery, Seoul
- 2004 - FotoFest, Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art, MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia - 2004 - Gwangju Biennale 2004, GwangjuGwangjuGwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister...
, South Korea - 2005 - Encounters with Modernism: Highlights from the Stedelijk Museum and the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
- 2005 - The 1st Pocheon Asian Art Festival, Pocheon Art Hole, PocheonPocheonPocheon is a landlocked city in the far northeastern region of Gyeonggi province in South Korea. It covers 826.48 km2 with a population of 160,176 people, according to the 2008 census. Pocheon lies between Seoul and the mountainous northwestern areas of Gangwon province...
, South Korea - 2005 - FAST FORWARD Photographic Message From Korea, Fotografie Forum International, FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany - 2005 - Contemporary Art of Korea, Busan Museum of Modern Art, BusanBusanBusan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
- 2006 - Infected Landscape, Julie Saul Gallery, New York, New York
- 2006 - Eleven: 11 Contemporary Artists, Michael Hoppen Gallery, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... - 2007 - Photo Miami: The international Contemporary Art Fair of Photo-Based Art, Video& New Media, Miami, Florida
- 2007 - Asian Contemporary Art FairAsian Contemporary Art FairThe Asian Contemporary Art Fair was a contemporary art fair held annually in New York City. The first fair took place November 8–12, 2007. The second Asian Contemporary Art Fair occurred November 6–10, 2008....
New York, New York, New York - 2007 - Like There Is No Tomorrow, Caprice Horn Gallery, Berlin
- 2007 - Performance Art of Korea, Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
- 2007 - Beauty, Desire and Evanescence, Space –DA Gallery, Beijing
- 2007 - Landscape of Korean Contemporary Photography, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
- 2007 - Incarnation, Hammond Museum, New York, New York
- 2007 - Exhibition for the Winners of Dong-gang Photo Awards, Yeongwol
- 2007 - Loaded Landscapes Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois
- 2007 - Photo Miami: The international Contemporary Art Fair of Photo-Based Art, Video& New Media, Miami
- 2007 - Sotheby's Contemporary Art Asia: presenting 30 top Asian Artists, Mandarin Oriental, Miami
- 2008 - Korean Art 1980-2000, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon
- 2008 - Paris Photo 08, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
- 2008 - Contemporary Korean Photographs 1948–2008, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon
- 2009 - Love, The Dock Art Center, Leitrim
- 2010 - "Grain of Emptiness: Buddhism Inspired Contemporary Art," Rubin Museum, New York
Catalogs and monographs
- Psychopath. Sunyoung Publishing Co., Seoul, 1987.
- Father. View Point Publishing Co., Busan, 1990.
- Poems. Jipyoung Publishing Co., Busan, 1994.
- The Museum Project. A&A Publishing Co., Seoul, 2002; Aperture FoundationAperture FoundationThe Aperture Foundation was founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their vision was to create a forum for fine art photography, a new concept at the time. The first issue of...
, 2005. - Atta Kim: ON-AIR. International Center of PhotographyInternational Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
/SteidlSteidlSteidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany.The company was started by Gerhard Steidl...
, 2006. - Water does not soak in Rain. Wisdomhouse, Seoul, 2008.
- Deconstruction. Hakgojae, Seoul, 2008.
- The Portrait. Hakgojae, Seoul, 2008.
- Atta Kim New York Sketch. Wisdomhouse, Seoul, 2008.
- Atta Kim India Sketch. Wisdomhouse, Seoul, 2008.
- Atta Kim water does not soak in rain. Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern , 2009.
- Atta Kim ON-AIR EIGHTHOURS. Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern , 2009.
External links
- Atta Kim official site
- Atta Kim: ON-AIR, International Center of Photography
- On-Air exhibition images
- Images from the Museum Project and ON-AIR, Yossi Milo Gallery